Is Living Underwater Like Living in Brooklyn?
Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of aquaman Jacques, plans to beat his granddad’s record by living in an underwater laboratory for 31 days—one day longer than Jacques Cousteau lived “in an underwater village on the floor of the Red Sea in 1963,” the Wall Street Journal reports. His training involves swimming in the Olympic-sized swimming pool at the YMCA on Atlantic Avenue while holding his breath (from years of training—in the bathtub, in bed—he can deprive himself of oxygen for more than four minutes) and sitting in his closet to accustom himself to small, dark spaces; it also involves living in Brooklyn Heights.
“Just living in this city is the best preparation to exist in a very small space with strangers for a long period of time,” Cousteau told the Journal. “It gives you a sense of spatial awareness. It gives you a sense of constant danger. If I was living in a suburb or the country right now, the idea of living in an enclosed space would freak me out.” (A previous apartment in Korea Town that “couldn’t have been more than 200 square feet” helped adjust him to tight living quarters.)
Cousteau will live in the lab, eight miles off the Florida Keys, with six other scientists starting November 12. They’ll study how climate change has affected the Atlantic Ocean, as well as how living underwater affects people. They’ll have wi-fi, so you’ll be able to follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart
